If you're one of the many who do not believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, you're a racist.
That's the apparent conclusion of Chris Benson, Associate Professor of African American Studies and Journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In an article at The Huffington Post, Benson wrote that the media should call out Donald Trump on what he calls a "race-based" campaign.
He writes:
The story about what the "birther" issue really is all about, and the opportunity to live up to media responsibility in helping people make enlightened decisions about the answer that increasingly is becoming apparent: the "birther" issue is about race.
One would think the media's job is to provide all the available information so people can make up their own mind. Instead, the so-called mainstream press has bent over backwards carrying the water for President Obama. Apparently, Benson - a journalism professor - thinks it's the media's job to encourage a liberal groupthink.
Connect the dots, Benson writes. Trump resurrects the issue he says the media put to rest. The Arizona legislature then passes a bill requiring Presidential candidates prove they meet constitutional requirements before being placed on the ballot - a clear indication of racism. The final straw and Benson's idea of real proof - a photoshopped picture of Barack Obama in a family of chimpanzees put out by a lone California Republican complete with a note saying, "Now you know why no birth certificate."
On this, Benson concocts the notion that racism must be at the heart of the "birther" issue.
Benson bemoans the fact that the issue is being discussed at all, and suggests that repeatedly mentioning the subject gives it legitimacy. One has to wonder where Benson was during the Bush years when liberals pushed the media-created fabrications surrounding the former President's military service.
Since Obama was elected, liberals have made one thing clear - any disagreement with Obama on anything is racist.
Benson continues by writing:
Clearly, Obama is different from every U.S. president before him. Everyone -- even Obama's self-congratulatory liberal community of support -- sees the difference. What we make of it, though, is what makes the difference. Marilyn Davenport made a monkey of it in a flashback of nineteenth century pseudo-science and minstrelsy that once aimed at dehumanizing and devaluing African American life.
Indeed, Obama is different, but not in the way Benson thinks. He writes that we should "just lay it all out there," and "Call a spade a spade." OK, here goes.
For the first time in history, America has elected a man to the highest office who not only does not understand the United States, but fundamentally dislikes it. In Obama's mind, Great Society entitlement programs are what made America great. During the 2008 campaign, Obama sold American voters socialist policy wrapped in pithy, meaningless slogans.
He let the cat out of the bag when he told "Joe the Plumber" we should spread the wealth. His policies have driven unemployment through the roof and gas prices have doubled since his inauguration. He has taken over car companies and his health care law has been called "the crown jewel of socialism."
He rules by fiat, unilaterally declaring laws he doesn't like unconstitutional and disregards court orders he disagrees with. He has polarized and divided the nation in a way that has not been seen since the Civil War.
He told us he would fundamentally transform America, and he has. We have gone from "hope and change" to franks and beans. Now the United States faces a fiscal crisis that threatens the very fabric of the country. And still, he refuses to lead.
On foreign policy, Obama has shown that he is weak and indecisive - snubbing our friends and bowing to our enemies.
It's not about the color of Obama's skin - it's about the color of his policies.
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